What Came After
by mustangisinflames
Summary: Sanji fears he's the only human left alive. The only real human anyway. In a world infested with the Freaks whom host the aliens within them, staying alone means staying alive and trusting someone could mean the death of you. ZoSan
1. Prologue: The Crazy Vid

**Prologue**

**The Crazy Vid**

* * *

It was just a viral video at first. A stupid clip on YouTube that was worldwide within a few hours. It was dubbed 'The Crazy Vid' and wherever you went someone was talking about it. Always talking about it. It wasn't that great of a video though and the assumption was made that it must've been a promo vid for a new movie. No one knew what it was called though, or what movie it was supposed to be selling, hence the name 'The Crazy Vid' It was pretty crappy quality, but you could make things out quite well in it still.

There was this girl, German probably if her accent was anything to go by. She was crying, breathing skittishly into the web cam she was filming on. She looked a mess, her hair was everywhere and something red- blood?- was smeared down the side of her pretty face. She was scared. More scared than any other actor could hope to portray. So so scared. She was sobbing into the camera, "Hide..." She coughed, "Hide... Please..."

Then there was the bang, slightly distant but still painfully close, and she looked up frantically almost knocking the laptop clean off her bed before screaming, "They're coming! They're coming, you have to-!"

And then it cuts out.

Despite the shoddy quality though, everyone was buzzing about it. Nobody could wait to see what this promo vid was for.

Then ten days later the Internet cut out.

Two days after that every communication flatlined- phones, landlines, computers, tablets, tv, radios.

Everything.

And three days later they finally came.


	2. Sanji

**Chapter 1**

**Sanji**

* * *

There was not that much left of the rabbit except a broken and mutilated splat of fur and internal organs. In fact, it didn't even look like it had been a rabbit to begin with. Sanji looked down at it and then to the hunting rifle in his hands with a sick sense of awe. He'd merely shot the creature out of curiosity and a need to check if he could fire the damn weapon without it tearing his hands off. It didn't rip his hands to shreds, but it sure did to this rabbit. He decided he wouldn't hunt smaller things with it afterall, he'd stick to snares and traps.

He left the broken carcass where it was, some dogs or something would come by for it sooner or later, and brought the firearm in towards himself, holding it with one hand to pick up his rucksack. He shouldered it on, gripped the rifle tight and walked on.

It was late afternoon already, the sunlight just about making it through the canopy of leaves above. Stay beneath the treeline- makes it harder for Scanners to spot you. The Scanners arrived three months ago in late Spring. They were flat, chrome looking discs that hovered hundreds of feet above. Watching. Waiting. Waiting for a human to appear then BAM shot dead on the spot. Worst part was they made no noise, no humming of an engine or rumble of mechanics. Just silence.

Pure silence.

One time out of some wild impulse, Sanji had thrown a rock at one. It had missed, of course because there was no way anyone could toss something up that high with just their bare arm. He didn't get shot at though, the Scanner hadn't even noticed him. That and the fact he'd thrown himself into the nearest hedge for cover. Since then he'd spent the rest of the days, weeks, months, living in this forest where the thick treeline gave him the much needed protection.

Everything he needed was in that rucksack. Scratch that, everything he owned was in that rucksack. A change of clothes he wouldn't wear until next week, his sleeping bag, his tent kit and a selection of foraged food and water. He couldn't gather the water from the rivers and streams not at the risk of contracting the virus the Freaks had set upon them a year ago or drinking the stagnant fluids from dead bodies further upstream. The virus however hadn't broken out in a while now but he still didn't want to take his chances. He trusted the bottled water from abandoned stores.

Kicking a stone with his booted foot, Sanji continued hiking through the trees. He didn't kniw where he was going exactly, nor did he really care. All he knew was that it was suicide to stay at one campsite for too long and that moving on was the only option.

It was all a bit fucking stupid really. He'd always thought that if aliens were going to attack then it would at least happen like it did in the shitty movies. But there was no Army, no big guns to fight back. No heroic jet fighters looping through the skies. No. It was just him. Just him all by his sodding self with no home and no idea what tomorrow would bring. Hell, he didn't even know if he was the last human alive.

He hoped he wasn't. Because if he was, if he really was all alone in the world then that meant no one was coming to save him and he couldn't face that idea. He wasn't the last human. He couldn't be. But if he was then he was slightly okay with that.

At least he'd be the last REAL human on the planet.

At least he wouldn't be a Freak. He could die happy knowing that.

No one even knew what the aliens genuinely looked like. Sanji remembered what they were capable of though.

They infected a person's mind, weaseled their way in and took over bit by bit. You couldn't even tell if a person was infected or not unless you hurt them. You had to do something. Shoot them, cut them, beat the shit out of them. Because they didn't react to it. They felt no emotion. Sure, they could mimic it, like copying a smile or forcing a laugh. That's why you had to hurt them.

No one could fake pain.

Sanji remembered stabbing one once. It hadn't even flinched despite the metal blade burrowing itself into warm skin. Like going through hot butter. As easy as that. He recalled the hollow, glazed over eyes that had once been happy and glittered with life.

He'd never thought that killing his best friend could've been so easy.

He missed Gin.

It was getting dark now, too dark to travel by and the Scanners only seemed to multiply at night. He threw his bag down and knelt down, keeping the hunting rifle close on the ground as he flipped the flap over and pulled out the tent bag. He pulled the mix of framework and fabric out and threw it to the side, the tent popping up into shape with a soft whispered rustle. Using a small rock, Sanji hammered the few pegs in to anchor it and unzipped the flaps to climb in, dragging his rucksack and the gun after him.

Zipping the door back up, he locked the inner zips with a small padlock. It wasn't much considering someone could just gash the fabric open with a knife but at least he had a warning if someone tried to get in.

It was gloomy and musky in the tent but there was just enough light to see by to roll out his sleeping bag and take out a half empty bottle of water and a packet of Cheetos. It wasn't much, but it was enough to tide the hunger that gnawed on the lining of his stomach. He took a few controlled sips of water and then put it back, wriggling into his sleeping bag. He slotted a new cartridge of ammo into the rifle and cocked it, ready should he need it.

He hoped he wouldn't.

He ate a few more Cheetos before folding the packet over and putting it back for breakfast tomorrow. He made a mental note to forage tomorrow. Laying back, he wormed the gun in to sleep alongside him and brought it close to hold it with both hands like a metallic teddy bear.

In the grey mist that lay between sleep and wakefulness he saw his mother, the shadow of her curvy figure and the feeling of her fine hair between his fingers. He relaxed, safe and warm in the figments of his imagination. He could hear her soft, cooing voice and smell her flowery perfume he'd once bought her for her birthday. The image became darker as he slipped into unconsciousness but he tried desperately to hold on, to drag her back just for a moment longer but she fell from his grasp the same way her hair sifted through his fingers.


End file.
